'Charities' Funnel Millions to Climate-Change Denial

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A British newspaper claims to have discovered the convoluted way
oil billionaires in the United States can funnel huge amounts of
cash toward climate change-denial campaigns, while reaping
tremendous tax advantages in the process.

A shadowy group called the Donors Trust is largely funded by
billionaire Charles Koch and his wife Liz, according to an
investigation by
The Independent. The trust indirectly receives millions of
dollars in funding from a third-party group called the Knowledge
and Progress Fund, which the Koch family operates, the paper
claims.

A recent profile in
Forbes called Charles Koch "one of the 50 most powerful
people in the world, one of the 20 wealthiest — and one of the
dozen most vilified."

The IRS recognizes the Donors Trust as a charitable organization
due to its status as a "donor-advised trust." These trusts "are
individual accounts administered by tax-exempt organizations,
such as community foundations and national charities," according
to the
Wall Street Journal.

Because the IRS considers these organizations charitable groups,
money donated to them is tax-deductible, and the popularity of
such trusts is growing quickly. Contributions to donor-advised
trust funds increased 10.6 percent in 2011 over 2010, the Journal
reports. [ The
Reality of Climate Change: 10 Myths Busted ]

"It's becoming the vehicle of choice," said Robert Brulle, a
sociologist at Drexel University in Philadelphia, referring to
the donor-advised trust. "It's an attractive conduit of funding
to these
conservative think tanks," Brulle told LiveScience.

But what do the recipients of the estimated $500 million in donor
funding since 2003 actually do with the money? "A lot of it is
just unknown," said Brulle. "It goes into the black box of Donors
Trust" where the money is, for the most part, untraceable.

The
website for Donors Trust provides some clues to their
interests: "The current environment on university campuses values
Diversitas over Veritas — but cultural
diversity is a poor substitute for truth, which must be the
prevailing aim of the university. And discovering truth is
impossible without a commitment to freedom of inquiry and the
broadest possible range of viewpoints — what we call intellectual
pluralism.

"Typically, we provide top-notch professors with substantial seed
capital, spread over three years. After these professors have
demonstrated progress with their 'centers,' we assist them in
identifying other funding sources — alumni, institutional or
foundations — to sustain their efforts."

According to the Independent's investigation, Donors Trust has
given significant funding to the Competitive Enterprise
Institute, a right-wing think tank. Climatologist Michael Mann of
Pennsylvania State University has sued that group, claiming it
accused him of scientific fraud and compared him to a child
molester. (Nine investigations of Mann's climate research,
including one by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and
another by the National Science Foundation, have found no
evidence of academic fraud. The CEI removed the harsh claims
several days after publication.)

Mann, however, remains committed to promoting a science-based
approach to climate change. "I like to think we're turning the
corner on this issue. The damaging impacts that climate change is
already having on us here in the U.S. … are
increasingly clear to the person on the street," Mann told
LiveScience in an email interview.

"Climate-change denial, despite the great degree of funding and
organization behind it, is simply no longer credible to the vast
majority of the public," Mann said. "It is my hope — and my
expectation — that we will soon transition from the unworthy
debate about whether the problem even exists to the worthy debate
to be had about what to do about it."